Bella's Reasons
by Queenie's Broken Heart
Summary: Bellatrix Lestrange thirsts for revenge. Alice Longbottom is the perfect victim in which to find it. "I'm in no hurry," she assured Alice quietly, forcing her to face Frank as a curse was fired. "Wouldn't you like to watch yourself become a widow?"


**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/n:** Hopefully you like this! Does contain some violence. Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading :)

* * *

Alice Longbottom entered the sitting room with a gentle smile on her face. She had just put the baby down to sleep – he had finally stopped crying. Blowing the biggest bubbles she could with Drooble's Best Blowing Gum usually fascinated him into a silent, docile state.

"You know he'll never stop crying if you always pick him up whenever he starts," her husband reprimanded her fondly, fully aware that she couldn't stand to hear the infant cry even for a moment.

Alice merely smiled and picked up her wand to make some small soft white lights appear on the mantelpiece before charming them to twinkle merrily. It was Christmastime and Frank had been decorating for the past hour already, giving the room a homely glow.

Hanging a bell on the branches of the small pine they had picked out, Alice found herself reflecting on how _peaceful_ everything seemed. And why shouldn't it be? It had been only five weeks ago when little Harry Potter had miraculously managed to rid the world of He Who Must Not Be Named. A sharp pang rose to her chest when she recalled the death of Lily and James once more. It had been like a knife piercing her every time she had thought of them since.

But there finally was peace, there finally was time for her to take a break from work and enjoy her little son and wonderful husband, Frank.

She spontaneously put her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her height to kiss him softly. He smiled, their foreheads still touching and whispered that he loved her.

Yes, it certainly was going to be a good Christmastime.

* * *

Bellatrix Lestrange beckoned her three companions to move closer to cottage. Rabastan, always a little too eager, advanced a little too far for her liking.

"Rabastan! Are you incapable of patience? Would you wait for my order? Don't forget; I call the shots here."

Rabastan looked at his elder brother in protest.

"Do as she tells you," Rodolphus instructed through gritted teeth. "Lord knows she's more intelligent than you. And don't forget – Alice and Frank Longbottom are extremely talented Aurors."

"I wouldn't go that far, Rodolphus," Bellatrix smirked as Rabastan backed down reluctantly. "They're hardly much competition for the likes of _us_."

The party of four crept around until they were outside the front door. Rodolphus snorted at the Christmas wreath hanging upon it and rolled his eyes at his wife, who wasn't paying attention.

"You, boy!" Bella said suddenly to the youngest man. He was only nineteen and she was doubtful of his competence, but even she couldn't dispute that he was certainly committed. "Listen up, because I'm about to tell you how this is going to happen."

The boy straightened up and threw her a sharp glare. She immediately felt her respect for him rise.

"Alice Longbottom is mine. You three take Frank, I've no doubt he can put up a fight, but in any case, don't kill him immediately. He doesn't deserve that ease." She spat to emphasize her loathing. "Cruciatus Curse. I want to see how long he'll last."

She nodded and raised her wand as though to blast open the door, but the boy stopped her.

"What is it Crouch? Don't tell me you're backing out now …"

He glowered at her before quietly asking, "What of the child?"

Bella's eyes glinted. "Leave the child. We'll leave the child until after we've disposed of his blood-traitor parents. Then I shall deal with him. Is that all right with you?" She fixed him in her stare, sure that if it was any other youth the answer would be 'no'. Killing seemed to horrify the young.

'Fine by me,' he said haughtily.

She nodded approvingly. 'And don't forget why we do this – in the name of –"

"The Dark Lord," the young wizard finished reverently.

Rabastan made a sort of scornful noise.

Immediately the other three turned on him.

"He _will_ return," Bella whispered venomously. "And you'd best lose that attitude before he does, Rabastan."

"You'd best lose it _now_," the boy amended.

Bella frowned. Suddenly she wasn't sure she liked how devoted the boy was. She was the most loyal Death Eater ever and that was the way things must always remain. No teenager ought to be threatening to take that from her.

"That's enough Crouch, calm down. Are we ready? Good, Let's do this."

Almost lazily, she blasted the door open and watched the three men run in before her. Very briefly, she thought she saw something silver dash out. Shrugging it aside she tucked a strand of dark hair back behind her ear. Only then did she wander casually into the room.

Rabastan and Rodolphus were already locked in battle with Frank. Bella raised her eyebrows at Crouch who was firing hexes at Alice to stop her from either helping her husband or running to her baby. He shoved her roughly towards Bellatrix when she wasn't expecting it and Bella seized the younger woman by her hair.

She watched her struggle for a moment before leading her to the couch and sitting her down upon it. A malevolent smile spread over her once fine features. She twirled her wand between her fingers, savouring the moment noting with pleasure that the girl was watching every flick of her wrist very fearfully indeed. The girl was right to.

"I'm in no hurry," she assured Alice quietly, stroking her forehead so that she wiped a few beads of sweat from her brow. Then without warning she seized Alice's head and forced it to face Frank just as Crouch shot the first Cruciatus Curse at him. "Wouldn't you like to watch yourself become a widow?" she asked sweetly.

"Frank, no!" Alice's large dark eyes had filled up with tears and her face crumpled like a child's. "Not Frank, please, no, anything …"

"Shh," Bella crooned, holding the struggling woman's arms tightly round her back. "Oh!" she said as Alice gave a mighty lurch forward. "Oh no, no, no, that just won't do." She drew her hand into her pocket watching with pleasure as the other woman's round face paled even further when the hand emerged clutching a dagger. Bella smiled. Sometimes the knife communicated much more than the wand for some reason.

Frank suddenly jumped back from his captors, firing curses at them as he stumbled backward into the kitchen. Rabastan immediately followed him; Crouch and Rodolphus followed suit when Bella nodded approvingly. She liked it this way better anyway. Alice was quite simply an opportunity too precious too miss. The young woman was hers. To do with what she pleased. Completely at her mercy.

It was a pity for Alice that Bellatrix didn't have any mercy.

Bella caressed the dagger in her hand for a moment, envisioning what things she could do to Alice with it. She saw herself holding it against the young woman's face, so that her horrified eyes were reflected in the blade. She imagined the sharp glistening metal stroking her cheek before Bella gave the slightest bit of pressure and a torrent of scarlet would fall. She could drain every little drop of the vermin's blood. Alice didn't seem to take any value in her pureblood status after all. Bella shivered excitedly.

But first there was a more pressing matter. She _had_ to ask find out if Alice knew the Dark Lord's whereabouts. If anyone knew, the Longbottoms would. Outstanding Aurors, always right in the heart of the action, and one of Alice's best friends had been Lily Potter, Harry Potter's very own mother. And then there was what she had overheard her master talking about … Yes; the Longbottoms were the ones who would know.

And if there was even a whisper of his whereabouts Bella was sure that she would hear of it. She had a constant yearning, like an ache in her side to find him and help him and be in his favour. She was his favourite and so she must always be. It wasn't a preference. It was a necessity.

Bella watched Alice's chest as it inhaled and exhaled rapidly. The young woman's terror was purest rapture to her. She licked her top row of teeth as she let another soft laugh escape and then her expression went completely serious once more before she suddenly pushed her to the floor forcefully. Alice whimpered in pain.

She revelled in the knowledge the girl would suffer far worse very soon. Her whimpers must become screams. Screams so wretched that they sent shivers deep into the marrow of her bones.

"I know you know about the Dark Lord's whereabouts. Tell me and I'll not harm you or your child."

Alice's dark eyes widened with further fear at the mention of her baby.

"But … but …" she looked as though she was frightened to say it as she hurried the words out, "He's dead. He died and that's where he is."

Bella let a snarl escape from her as she threw the dagger down onto the floor sharply so it became stuck in the floorboards, inches from Alice's colourless face.

"Lies," she hissed and pointed her wand carefully. Alice's own wand had rolled away from its owner and Bella now crushed it into two with her heel.

Alice winced as she heard a scream of agony come from the kitchen, echoing off the tiles.

"Dear Frank," Bella nodded mockingly as the scream reached a horrific crescendo and then died down once more. "But now it's your turn. Crucio."

Alice's face contorted with agony as the full force of the curse hit her. She shrieked and moaned and Bella smirked at her pain. The screams were what made her feel alive.

She halted the curse and watched Alice pant heavily, tears streaming down her face as her body trembled from the ordeal.

"That," Bella said quietly, "was just a taste of what's to come. I told you I'm in no hurry."

Alice made no reaction to these words; she merely tried to sit up against the couch.

"Please," she gasped finally. "Please Bellatrix, the war is over. Please …"

"The war," Bella said, her face darkening, "has only just begun, and you, girl, are in execrable danger so I'd watch what you say."

She could feel pure rage about everything wrong with the world building up inside of her. "Crucio."

Alice curled up, holding her stomach as she screeched in pain.

That, Bella thought snidely, was for her _sister_. Her embarrassment of a sister, Andromeda. The one who so closely resembled her, who had been her confidant while they were growing up together. The one who had stabbed her in the back and ran off with some filthy Mudblood and disgraced Bella's last name forever.

Oh, her sister was always so obsessed with cleanliness and order, yet she went and destroyed any order in her family's lives by marrying a piece of pure filth. And then she had the cheek to reproduce and raise a Mudblood's daughter.

Her white knuckled grip on the wand relaxed.

"Where is the Dark Lord?"

Alice looked at her fearfully. Bella noted with satisfaction that the witch's light brown hair was in complete disarray.

"No- Nobody knows what happened that night, Bellatrix. Only that he tried to kill little … little," at this point Alice's eyes were closed tight, remembering her friends' fate. "little Harry Potter. And then he disappeared. He's gone he's gone, he's gone! Why can't you accept that?"

Bella said nothing in reply. In her blackened heart she knew he was alive – he had promised them all he could not, would not die. And she believed him unconditionally.

"You know as much as I, I swear it," finished Alice, pleadingly.

"You," Bella said, aiming a sharp kick to the other woman's stomach without warning. "Are a filthy liar."

Alice, still reeling from the force of the kick shook her head vehemently.

"No? Then why were you hiding away in the weeks beforehand? Why the hell would you hide yourself away, Alice? You always seemed like the kind of woman who would rather take action than shut yourself away from the world while your best friend is being hunted down?"

Bellatrix stamped her foot sharply and Alice whimpered.

"I'm not a fool, Mrs Longbottom. Both you and Lily Potter have young sons, both you and Lily Potter were active Aurors and both you and Lily Potter spent the last few months trying to hide from the Dark Lord! You and the Potters have been plotting this!"

Bella had once heard her master murmuring to himself a little while ago. She distinctly heard him say "Potter or Longbottom?" And months later he had disappeared at the hands of the Potters. She had been sure this would be where she'd find the final clue.

Alice shook her head, terrified and kept her hands covering her mouth.

"You won't speak?"

"It was … Dumbledore's suggestion … said the Fidelius Charm would keep _him_ safe …"

"Well," Bellatrix said nastily, "it's a crying shame you stopped using the charm right after the night Harry Potter survived, isn't it? You thought you'd be safe, did you? Your ignorance disgusts me."

She crouched down to Alice's level, focusing her cold black eyes on Alice's warm dark ones.

"You thought the Dark Lord died. You are _wrong_."

She straightened up and gave her wand a casual flick. "Crucio."

Alice writhed in pain once more.

That was for Alice's best friend. The charming, sweet Lily Potter who had produced a son that had confounded even the Dark Lord. Lily Potter the Mudblood who saw herself as an equal. Bella sniffed as she watched her victim scream. Lily Potter was _dead_. But that wouldn't fix things with the Dark Lord.

"Where is the Dark Lord?"

Alice seemed almost incapable of speech now.

"Don't … hurt … Neville …"

Impatiently Bella aimed her wand once more. She heard more screams come from the kitchen as she moved her lips once more.

"Crucio."

This time it was for the child. The child that hadn't vanquished her master, the child that lay not far away with two parents still alive. For now.

Bellatrix couldn't stand that Alice Longbottom, a young and naive witch of twenty-one, had a child. She could barely stand that Narcissa had a child and she had secretly hoped that he would die in the war. And she absolutely couldn't stand that Andromeda had a daughter, but what was more, she couldn't bear that she envied Andromeda her daughter.

It wasn't that she liked children. Oh, no. She hated them with their whinging, loudness and general stupidity. But to have a child was _something_. Children could grow up to do great services and they were something you could be proud of. They could continue your causes and stand as a reminder that you lived, you existed and you mattered. Which was why Bella planned to kill Alice's baby later. Alice Longbottom did _not_ matter and certainly not more than she did.

Alice was left gasping for breath once more, her nails scratching at the floor leaving grooves in the wood.

Bella had known since she first asked Alice the question that the young witch didn't have an answer, yet she found herself asking once more.

"The Dark Lord. Where. Is. He?"

But Alice seemed not to be listening anymore. She was facing the kitchen listening to the wretched screams of her husband. Her pale face was tearstained, the veins in her hands stuck out as they grasped the floor. Bellatrix felt sick to see the clear adoration and concern on Alice's round, tired face.

It was almost time to end her life. But one more shot of pain; one more bit of misery to inject her with seemed appropriate. Bella liked seeing her helpless and pathetic in front of her. Alice Longbottom had lived a very happy, smug existence and she deserved to suffer before Bella did away with her once and for all.

She whispered it this time.

"Crucio"

This time it was for Alice's husband. Her perfect, handsome, loving husband. Bella could tell how much Alice loved him and she hated her for it.

Bella hated Rodolphus. He was pathetic, with no backbone and he was quiet. Rodolphus was handsome and Rodolphus loved her and Rodolphus would do anything she asked of him. But Bellatrix Black had only ever loved one person in her entire life, and that was the one person who she would never be able to have. She had married out of convenience with the intention of keeping her name respectable and the hopes of producing an heir. No such luck for _her_. She loathed her husband while Alice Longbottom loved hers more than her very life.

And the only one she loved she had been happy to serve and now even _that_ had been taken away from her. He had gone, but she knew he _must_ return and he _would _return like he'd promised them; otherwise her existence was futile.

Alice's eyes rolled back in her head as she screeched with pain. Bella kicked her even as she continued the curse. She could hear Frank's screams joining his wife's harmoniously rising together.

She stopped the curse for a moment and then thought better of it. This one was just because.

"Crucio."

One more strike and she noticed _something_ indefinable leave the other woman's eyes.

And then she realised Alice Longbottom had _gone_.

In the next second five figures suddenly burst through the doorway and two of them seized her instantly.

_Aurors_.

She kicked and struggled but they had caught her off guard.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," one said to the other in disgust. "Thank goodness we got here in time."

"Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange," called another voice from the kitchen area. "And – blimey – is that Barty Crouch's lad?"

"Couldn't be …"

Bella hissed as she heard Crouch's high-pitched pleads.

"Please, I was trying to help them, it wasn't me, it _wasn't_ _me_!"

She wouldn't stoop to the boy's pathetic level. She was _proud_ of her work here.

"How did you find us?" Bella demanded of her captor.

"Alice sent for help the second you broke in here," he snarled back at her.

Remembering her brief glimpse of the patronus, she looked into the blank eyes of Alice Longbottom and swore silently that she would have her revenge for this. But what with?

She vaguely noticed a child's screams were coming from somewhere else in the house; they had been background noise all this while only she hadn't noticed.

Yes. That worked. She would one day kill Neville Longbottom.

She was dragged from the house, cackling to herself, to be taken straight to court and charged with torture.

* * *

The young witch sat quietly on the floor of the wrecked house.

From somewhere not too far away she could hear a child crying.

Intrigue upon her pale face, she glanced towards the cries as though she wished to comfort the child, but was distracted a moment later by a man, stranger to her, leaning down to her level and speaking urgently. He introduced himself as 'Uncle Algie' and asked her if someone called 'Alice' was all right.

She turned away, distracted by some twinkling Christmas lights on the mantelpiece. The lights reflected in her wide, blank eyes as she reached out to touch an empty Drooble's wrapper on the floor and place it carefully in her pocket.

Algie looked up at the other men and shook his head sadly.

Alice Longbottom was _gone_.


End file.
